The Jazz Bird

[Countryphyl]

The selection for our Bookclub for November is The Jazz Bird by Craig Holden. It is based on a true story and the setting is Cincinnati. I am really enjoying it because I grew up in Cincinnati and still live just 50 miles east.

[Mandy Muffin]

Our local library, Boone County, Kentucky, ran this book as it feature a couple of years back. Each year they run a local author or theme in the "What if Everybody in Kentucky reads the same book?"  I have lived in the Cincinnati area since 1966 and recognized most of the locations and people in the book -- Eden Park, Taft and their relatives, some of the hotels, etc. I remember it to be a great read at the time.  Enjoy. 

[Grammie Sue]

I have not read this book, nor have  I ever even been to Cincinnati, but I think it is fun to read a book set in a place you know.  Part of why I love reading Sue Grafton's books is that Kinsey lives in So. Cal. and I know a lot of the places you travels.   It is fun to imagine as you are in those places, the things that you have read in the book. 

[Mandy Muffin]

But Sue Grafton is originally from just down the river, in Louisville.  In one of her alphabet  books she goes back to the Kentucky area (a small town near Owensboro) to do some investigating. I enjoyed "Kinsey and Me" this past summer, as a lot of her personal life is in the book.  http://www.amazon.com/Kinsey-Me-Sue-Grafton-ebook/dp/B0095ZMGI0/ref...  I have read them all, except the latest W.   

[rapa]

When we lived in Cincinnati in 1958, one of the main things I remember is Graeter's ice cream!  Since then have on occasion shipped a small case to friends as a treat. Good stuff!!!! 

http://www.graeters.com/

[Lip Service]

Chili three-way!!

[Countryphyl]

Skyline Chili!!

[Mandy Muffin]

You haven't lived until you get a five-way: chili, spaghetti, raw onions, beans, grated cheddar cheese, with oyster crackers and plenty of hot sauce.  Or maybe a coney island: hot dog with chili topping and cheddar cheese. (Coney Island is the major amusement park in Cincinnati.)  On the Kentucky side of the Ohio, Dixie Chili is the more popular chili parlor, but Skyline has the reputation.  Empress is the other major chili parlor. The chili recipes are a closely guarded secret but you can purchase all three at local grocery stores. 

Graters is also famous nation wide as well as Montgomery Ribs, which were purchased by Bob Hope each year for his golf tournament. I especially like the old German restaurants.  Zimmers was my favorite. 

[Countryphyl]

Zimmers and Lenhardt's.

[rapa]

Graeter's was only local back in the '50s'  We lived a few blocks from the family owned plant on Redding Rd. Closer to Jewish Hospital.

[Countryphyl]

I grew up living on Clifton Ave at the other end from the University.